For decades, India’s toy market was dominated by imports. But recently, the narrative has turned upside down

India has become a net exporter of toys. Khilona bana Khalnayak?

The complete story – 1/n

Exports of the toy sector have witnessed a change 2020 onwards

The total exports of the toy sector were $224.3 million in 2020 and reached $304.8 million in 2023

Imports were $200 Mn in 2020 and reached $218 Mn in 2023 with imports undergoing a sharp decline

Having no bottles and no ovens reduced weight of Indigo planes and therefore costs

But those were not the only ways IndiGo has gone after shaving off load with a vengeance and continues to do so

Some really innovative ways through which Indigo saved money – 1/n

But do such small things matter?

An oven weighs 60 kg; four such ovens in the plane would lead to Rs 6000 worth of extra fuel per flight on avg.!

On the nearly seven lakh flights per year, a rough calculation pegs the savings of oven-less flights at Rs 400 Cr a year!

Bajaj Housing Finance (BHF) IPO opens Sept 9

It will be India’s most valuable Housing Finance company post-listing!

BHF Chairman said they could be the Future HDFC as there is an enormous opportunity in housing finance!

Everything you need to know about this IPO – 1/n

About BHF –

BHF is a non-deposit-taking Housing Finance Company ("HFC"), registered with the National Housing Bank ("NHB") since Sept 2015, and is engaged in mortgage lending since 2018

Identified and categorized as an "Upper Layer" NBFC by the RBI since Sept 2022

A company called Antony Waste (AW) handles 90% of Municipal Solid Waste in Mumbai!

It is Asia’s largest single-location waste processing plant situated in Mumbai’s Kanjurmarg

Some facts about the company and the industry – 1/n

AW was started in a garage, literally

In the 1960s, Jacob Ouseph and his brothers moved from Thrissur to Mumbai to start an auto workshop at Masjid Bunder for heavy vehicles.

Building the body over the chassis required skilled technicians, and the brothers fit the bill

Indigo is the Dmart of Indian Aviation!

Started in Aug 2006 with a single aircraft and has grown its fleet to 382 aircraft

From Market share of 8.9% in Sept 2007 to 62% in July 2024

How did they come to rule the Indian Skies? Also, an amazing story on their cost obsession – 1/n

Indigo Facts -

- A cost-obsessive airline that is true to its label of being a low-cost carrier (LCC)

- Most efficient Aviation LCC and 6th biggest carrier in the world

- Largest individual Asian airline with 10 Cr + passengers carried in 2023

A staggering 65,000 oil fields lie beneath the Earth’s surface, holding vast crude oil reservoirs

The Ghawar Field in Saudi Arabia is the largest oilfield in the world, with an estimated 17000 Cr barrels of original oil in place!

Why is it such an important site? A thread - 1/n

Discovered in 1948, this gargantuan field is estimated to have held a staggering 17000 Cr barrels of original oil in place

With over 8800 Cr barrels already produced, Ghawar continues to be a cornerstone of Saudi Arabia's oil dominance!

The World of Semiconductors is as unbelievable as it is complex

11 Semiconductor Facts that will surprise you!

A thread, do retweet :) 1/n

Fact 1 - Microchips/Semiconductors are in everything - Cars, smartphones, MRI scanners, robots, and data centers - And it all starts with sand!

Silicon chip wafers are made from sand - 2nd most abundant element on earth after O2

The largest battery maker in the world is a Chinese Company Called CATL

Most of us are unaware of the company and the crazy stuff they are doing

A thread on CATL, why it is disrupting the battery tech world, and how China is winning the EV race – 1/n

CATL doesn’t have a 100-year track record of reliability like Panasonic; it isn’t backed by Warren Buffett like BYD.

But in less than 10 years, Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd, or CATL has become the world’s largest maker of lithium-ion batteries!

Korean car maker Hyundai Motor wants to sell around 17% of its Indian arm through an IPO.

This will be India’s biggest IPO ever!

Here are some thoughts on why this will be an important one to watch - 1/n

The Big daddy of all Indian IPOs -

- This will be India’s biggest IPO after LIC’s Rs 21008 Cr IPO
- They are planning to raise Rs 25,000 Cr (around $3 billion) at a valuation of Rs 1.5 Lakh Cr/18 Bn $ (as per reports even 20-25 Bn $ valuation on cards)

Eldercare is an exciting theme playing out in India

India’s elderly population (aged 60 Yrs and above) of ~14.5 Cr people is growing - both in population size and wallet size!

A thread on the sector's attractiveness, do retweet - 1/n

- Fastest growing age group in India – from 14 Cr (8% of the population) to 20% by 2050
- Expected demand for senior residences is expected to be 12X of current supply
- Elderly population to grow by 40% in 2021-31 v/s 8% growth for the General population

Personal Finance Hack for those who own a Housing Loan –

How one extra EMI per year leads to savings - 1/n

Case Study -

Housing Loan Value - Rs 50,00,000/-

Interest rate – 8.75%

Tenure 30 Years

The loan will finish in 30 years

India generates ~20% of the global data but in terms of Data Center capacity, it has a share of just 3% 💾

The Indian Data Centre (DC) opportunity and stocks + a summary of around 7 Data Centre reports that I read 📚

A thread, do retweet 🧵👇 1/n

Some Facts -

- India now has the highest DC capacity in the APAC region, surpassing major countries like Australia, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Singapore, and Korea
- In 2023, there was an addition of 255 MW of new supply, resulting in a total stock of 1,030 MW

100 Years ago, life expectancy in India was 25 Yrs and in US around 50 Yrs

Today it is 70 yrs and 78 yrs respectively

Good news - We will live longer

Bad news - Folks want to retire early so the risk is not having enough income during old age!

How to combat this? A thread - 1/n

People will retire at the age of 50-55 and then need a portfolio to help them survive for the next 20-30 years atleast

3 important things in my view

A good Sized corpus, Margin of Safety and Medical Insurance

Bajaj Housing Finance IPO is on the cards

Bajaj Finance Board is meeting on April 24 to discuss the same

Valuation of $10 billion with a tentative IPO size $1 billion is said to be on the cards

A thread on the company and the IPO - 1/n

Why the IPO?

The RBI classified Bajaj Housing Finance (BHF) in the category of NBFC - Upper Layer.

The company said it is mandated to list on or before September 30, 2025, as per the regulatory framework

A historic moment in the World Markets - The Bank of Japan ends 8 years of negative interest rates, making a historic shift with the first rate hike in 17 years!

This has officially ended the world’s only negative rates regime

A quick explainer on why this happened - 1/n

Some backdrop-

- If you deposit money in an Indian Bank today u get 6% interest yearly, so if you Deposit Rs 100, you get Rs 6 as interest
- But not in Japan! They had negative interest rates!

Gopal Snacks IPO opened today

Founded in 1999 and Dubbed as the Gathiya King, it sold 81.7L packets of its snacks everyday in 6MFY24!

This is my 100th thread since Feb 2023, so show some love :)

Everything you need to know about the company - 1/n

About Gopal Snacks -

- A FMCG Snacks company with a major presence in Gujarat
- Sells ethnic snacks - namkeen and gathiya | western snacks - wafers, snack pellets | Others - papad, spices, gram flour or besan, noodles, rusk and soan papdi
- 84 products | 276 SKUs

Renting V/s Buying a property - What to do? How to decide?

If you are buying a property - how to make the entire Loan amount free via SIPs (or) the entire interest on the Loan free via SIPs!

A practical case study , retweet so that more people can learn this!

Let's go - 1/n

Rent V/s Buy Debate -

- Renting doesn't give u a peace of Mind (personal view)
- Your owner can ask you to leave or throw you out anytime (have multiple friends who faced this in major and minor cities of India)
- If you are doing a temporary stay, then rent is good

Fall down seven times, stand up eight times is a very famous quote

This quote is most relevant for the founder of Astral Limited

This is the amazing story of Sandeep Engineer Sir who started Astral and has never given up despite many roadblocks including a near bankruptcy - 1/n

He shut down his first business (pharma) in 1984 after a major client collapsed

He founded Shree Chemicals in 1986 to manufacture bulk drugs and closed it in 1993

In 1991, he started another company—Kairav Chemicals - named after his son, to manufacture APIs

Forget Shark Tank, the real startup story is unfolding at IIT Madras Incubation Cell (IITMIC) in the IIT Madras Research Park

It has an 80% success rate with Startups!

I was there recently and the facilities and startups inside caught my interest so I decided to dig deeper - 1/n

Quick History –

- Started with a 400 Cr debt, returned 600 Cr (principal+interest)

- IITMIC didn’t take any grants as they wanted to experience and showcase to startups on how to create a sustainable bootstrapped business – they grew from the ground up in a lean way!

In 2008 Warren Buffet invested in BYD instead of Tesla!

His bet made him a cool 30x plus BYD dethroned Tesla in EV sales for the first time ever in Q4-2023!

The story of this happened and why it happened!

A thread , Retweet for a wider reach - 1/n

Why are we talking about BYD?

- BYD overtook Tesla in Q4 2023 – Tesla delivered 484,507 Units while BYD delivered 526,409 Units
- BYD holds a mammoth 35% market share in China!
- Tesla was still the top seller - it sold 18.1 Lakh EVs in 2023 while BYD sold 16 L Vehicles

The journey of Polycab’s 81000 Cr market capitalization started with a crisis!

Inder Jaisinghani, the current CMD of Polycab was all of 15-years-old when his father passed away

A thread on the 'electrifying' story of Polycab - 1/n

History -

The Jaisinghani family ran Sind Electric Stores, a small hardware and electrical store in Mumbai, which sold fans, lights, switches, and wires

Soon, Inder Jaisinghani (IJ) realized the potential for substantial earnings in manufacturing them